“Now I take a lot more time with the lyrics. I always try, even in the darkest song, to get a sense of hope in the words.” -Dexter Holland

THE Offspring, one of Southern California’s most influential and best- loved punk/pop bands, don’t care if you buy their new album, “Splinter” – but they do want you to hear it.

Call it punk rock ethics.

That’s why last Monday, the day before the disc was released in stores, the band streamed the entire collection on MTV.com for free.

Some people in the music industry are unsure of the benefit of such Internet treatment for a new album, but the Offspring’s lead singer and songsmith, Dexter Holland, 37, is all for it.

“There are ways to use it that are win/win for a band and music fans,” Holland told The Post.

“It can be done without the artist getting hurt. Maybe it was a dumb idea, but we wanted people to hear the music, and hopefully they’ll still want to buy the album.”

As naive as that sounds, it seems to be working.

“Splinter” debuted in the top 10 this week, adding another 100,000 copies to the quartet’s 32 million albums sold over the last eight years.

And back in 1998, “Pretty Fly (For a White Guy),” the Offspring’s most famous song, was downloaded 22 million times over a 10-week period. Despite the free taste test, that album still went on to sell 10 million copies.

Judging by their videos, you might think Holland and company were ringmasters of spring break, but everyone in the band is a family man.

Holland, who lives in Huntington Beach, Calif., is married to Kristine Luna of the L.A. rock outfit the Lunachicks and has a 15-year-old daughter, Alexia (by his first wife, who died in an auto accident).

Post: Calling your album “Splinter” seems to say that consistency might not have been your first objective.

Holland: For sure. The album sounded like the Offspring, but we took a lot of musical detours in a lot of songs. The music splintered from our core sound, and a lot of the songs are sung in first person.

Post: Are the songs about you?

Holland: That’s the mistake a lot of people make. You can’t assume because a song is written in the first person it’s autobiographical. It can be, but it isn’t always the case.

Post: Give me an example of what’s about you.

Holland: “Race Against Myself.” That one comes from a time I was trying as hard as I could, running as fast as I could, and I felt like I was moving backward. That song helped me get through those times.

Post: Why share such personal feelings with others?

Holland: I get feedback from fans and they say stuff like, “I was feeling really down and this song really helped me.” That’s corny, right? But sometimes music really does touch people. That’s one of the amazing parts of being in a band.

Post: How about the song “The Worst Hangover Ever” – is that one personal?

Holland: That’s just a fun song. I think just about everyone can identify with that one. The idea was to write a drinking song, and then we turned it because I’d never heard a hangover song. I thought it might be a downer, but one night we were out drinking and I put it on and it really worked. People like to joke around about how bad they’re gonna feel the next day. I’d like to think this is the Offspring’s version of “Margaritaville.”

Post: Since New Year’s Eve is coming up, what’s the Offspring cure for a hangover?

Holland: Lots of water, a couple of Advil before you go to bed and a couple more when you wake up. Then just eat light for the rest of the day.

Post: Do you take that cure often?

Holland: Not as often as when I was a kid. The longer you’re in rock, the more you realize you have to take care of yourself.

Post: You do look fit. Is it natural or do you work at it?

Holland: Certainly, what we do on stage is a cardio workout. I yell for a couple of hours on stage – no, let’s say I project – and you can’t breathe normally when you do that. Look, I’m in a band. I don’t want to look dumpy.

Post: It’s hard to believe the Offspring has been together for 18 years.

Holland: Yeah, we got together when we were in high school. It sounds like a long time when you say it that way, but for the first 10 years, nobody knew who we were. We had to save up money to buy gas and food. We did it because we loved it. It all turned around about eight years ago.

Post: You were kids then. Are you the same guys now?

Holland: Of course. We have kids ourselves, but we still have fun.

Post: Do you feel a responsibility to kids?

Holland: I don’t agree with the idea that I have a responsibility to be a role model. That wasn’t my goal in being in a band.

Post: Responsibility and being a role model are different.

Holland: When we started out, we never felt the words were all that important. Instead, it was about the music. But over time, I’ve seen how some of the words I’ve written have unintentionally connected with people.

Post: How has that affected your writing?

Holland: Now I take a lot more time with the lyrics. I always try, even in the darkest song, to get a sense of hope in the words. I want people to be inspired to do something better, to feel good about being yourself.

Post: Now that you don’t have to worry about gas money, do you treat yourself well?

Holland: The money means freedom. Some people look at it as “mo’ money, mo’ problems” and they can feel guilty about being better off financially. One time I was with Courtney Love and she was talking about a respected underground band that never made it. She asked me if I felt like s – – – because that band wasn’t a success and we were.

Post: What did you say?

Holland: I told her no, but that’s when I got an idea that the Offspring should adopt an old punker who never made it. That was the idea about how to deal with our success guilt.